Philippine Growth Slumps to 2.8% in Challenge for Marcos

Philippine growth unexpectedly slowed in the first quarter, leaving the country a laggard within the region and challenging policymakers trying to cool inflation and support the peso.

Gross domestic product rose 2.8% in the January-to-March period from a year earlier, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Thursday. That’s lower than the 3.3% median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey and below the 3% pace of the previous quarter. Household consumption, a pillar of the economy, grew by the slowest pace in nearly 16 years outside the pandemic.